Why We Need Another Cinderella Story

Why do we need another variation on the Cinderella story?  Because we are a culture of sequels.  The initial telling of a story is never enough so we have to create revisions, new twists, new settings because that is what we crave.  Take the Star Trek franchise.  It was not a very popular show when it first debuted in the 1960s.  It was probably considered too far outside the realm of "traditional" television and lasted only three seasons.  It went into reruns and syndication which is when I first watched in the early '70s.  Fifteen years later, with what is in my opinion the worst of the movies, Star Trek: The Motion Picture appeared.  This spawned renewed interest in this science fiction genre.  Hollywood decided they had a winner and the next movie was The Wrath of Khan which was a remake of the original episode the character Khan first appeared.  It was an interesting way of renewing interest in this series and has been redone yet again with the newest Star Trek franchise of the 21^st century. Star Trek progressed because of the movies into a new series known as the next generation.  We got new captains and character--new planets to explore; we even got out first female star ship captain.  The point of this is that the original was great! There was no need for what followed. However, a different generation of "trekkies" appeared and I think this may be how it works with literature.  Changes in society, accepted norms, traditions--all these have shifted and changed since the first Cinderella appeared.  Each culture wants something that is uniquely theirs. The creation of a new Cinderella—and I can only imagine what lies in the future—is needed.  It doesn't diminish the original story, it simply allows all cultures to have their own version of the original story. Sometimes this is a good thing because people want stories that are a reflection of the culture in which they are part of.